Earlier this year, I released my first collection ENTER, and it pretty much introduced the best of my earliest work. ESCAPE is more of a concept collection that I started writing during the summer of 2010 and really finished by early 2011.

Even though (or maybe because) the poems were written as part of a larger whole, I actually found a lot of success in publishing these poems in online and print publications. Plus, I was able to experiment with reading them to audiences a little more than usual this year, and I think that process helped with the revision process.

I don’t want to pick favorites, but here’s one from the collection that was one of the first I wrote last summer (and it was originally published in MiPOesias):

anywhere we dare go, by Robert Lee Brewer

the copper scent of a summer shower
sends us across our remembered crushes
left hidden in wet grass and creek water.

her skin was soft; his hands were strong; somewhere
a bird cried out as the wind bent branches
that only barely resisted bending.

in the evening, you’ll recall, the stars
fell out of the sky and danced around them
as we only worried about ourselves.

*****

If you’re interested in ordering a collection, it’s super easy to do. Just send me an e-mail at robertleebrewer@gmail.com with the subject line: I Need an Escape. Collections can be had for $10 (which includes shipping to anywhere in the world) and are personally signed by the author.

After I send out this stack of copies I signed tonight, there are only around 30-ish copies left. And once they’re gone, that’s it. When ENTER sold out, I had to turn people away, and that’ll be the case with ESCAPE too. So if you’re interested in a copy, send me an e-mail now while you’re thinking about it, and I’ll reserve your ESCAPE.

I’m really enjoying ESCAPE. The poems have a sort of magnetic attraction for me. So often they hit that magical sweet spot of giving just enough framework to get your bearings, but then a big hole to fall into where you have to thrash around before you can “escape.” Great writing, Robert, as always!